The New Urban Timeline is a database that records
key events in the history of new urbanism, as well as historical influences
reaching back to the 19th century. Over one thousand entries have been
contributed and compiled into the categories of Academic, Events, Firms,
Governmental, Places and Publications.

A printed version of the New Urban Timeline was created
to celebrate the 10th annual Congress of the CNU. It is available for
$5.00 from

The Town Paper
309 Main Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Please make your check or money order payable to "The
Town Paper." Download an order
form for the Timeline and other Town Paper publications.
For more details, visit the Town Paper
website.

Building a Timeline for the New
Urbanism
By Andrés Duany, Lead Editor

This Timeline is not a finished document … and it
could never be. The New Urbanism does not slow down enough for a snapshot,
not even for its tenth birthday.

But for reasons other than the inability to sit still,
this collective portrait is flawed. It seemed easy enough when Emily Talen
originally identified the need for a timeline. As it happens, I was just
then reading Nan Ellin’s "Postmodern Urbanism," and so volunteered to
start the process with an editing of the timeline that was included in
that volume. As it turned out, only a few of those entries survived, and
with this kernel began the search of additional entries.

There was a strong response to the first call for
information, but the gaps became increasingly apparent and the endeavor
grew to require the indomitable wills of Laurence (L.J.) Aurbach and Diane
Dorney. Their search now involves repeated postings on listservs, individually
addressed e-mails, documentary research, and many phone calls that require
cajoling, pleading and threatening to get the information. And, why not?
Why should this be any less difficult (or less fun) than anything else
we do?

The response they met varied. Some unlikely groups
were most cooperative: the large firms, the Europeans, the heretofore
less-prominent practitioners, that famous ogre Peter Katz. This was heartening,
but to our surprise and our chagrin, certain practitioners simply would
not cooperate. Whatever their reasons, their recalcitrance is reflected
in the weaknesses of this timeline.

But even now, with all of its flaws, the Timeline
tells a great story. Have a look at it. Don’t be angry if you have been
left out … just do something about it by contacting L.J. with your information
().

Consider this Timeline to be a first draft — a work
in progress that needs to be corrected and supplemented. Expect to see
it again at a future Congress in better condition. In the meantime be
proud of what we have achieved together.

The Timeline of New Urbanism Online
Andrés Duany, Lead Editor
Website and administration by Laurence Aurbach
Published by Diane Dorney's The
Town Paper